Imagination Edutainment has cut the ribbon on a new indoor edutainment theme park for children in India.

Located within the R City Mall, Mumbai, KidZania Mumbai marks the latest in a series of new venue openings this year.

Spread across an area of approximately 75,000sq.ft, KidZania emulates the workings of a real city. It is aimed at entertaining and educating kids through role-play and other activities.

Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan is the co-promoter of KidZania Mumbai and has a 26 per cent stake in the Indian franchise. Sanjeev Kumar, director and CEO of KidZania India, said the venue is targeting both the domestic and inbound segment.

"The Indian community is very spread out across the globe," Kumar said. "Those who have experienced KidZania will be able to create a positive opinion among their counterparts in India through word of mouth publicity. Also, the inbound market is very important to us as it adds retention value to
KidZania."

Conceptualised for and targeted at children aged four to 14, KidZania Mumbai features 60-plus real-world establishments including a bank, a university, a fire department, a radio station, a pizza centre and a parent's lounge along with 80-plus role-playing options including pilot, surgeon, fashion designer, fireman and chef.

KidZania was conceptualised and developed by Xavier López Ancona, its current CEO. The first KidZania opened in September 1999 in Santa Fe Shopping Mall in Mexico City, Mexico.

Mumbai is the 14th operational centre of KidZania in the world, as India joins the likes of Chile, Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Portugal, South Korea, Thailand and UAE.

Khan said: "I'm elated to see KidZania open in India and proud to be apart of such an empowering concept. It is my belief that KidZania will be the new destination for India parents to send their kids to learn and have fun together.

"India is ready for an edutainment concept like KidZania and I'm hopeful that it will provide new opportunities to the kids to shape their future."